Industry doyen Nelson Meers has furthered the run of prized gaming pub sales, taking Monarch’s top-performing Belmore Hotel for around $50 million.
Monarch Hotels, fronted by hotel veteran Joel Fisher, acquired the pub in 2015 from the Waugh family. It was ranked #60 on the Liquor & Gaming list of NSW pubs at the time, and has climbed as high as #11 since, and currently sits at #33.
The group recently completed a large-scale refurbishment, reconfiguring street level including moving and extending the gaming room.
In the past couple of years Monarch has been selling down, realising appreciation in the portfolio, divesting major assets the Banksia Hotel to Patrick Ryan and the Lidcombe Hotel to Kent Walker.
The off-market sale of the Belmore was through HTL Property’s Dan Dragicevich and Andrew Jolliffe, and leaves just one in the Monarch collection, being the Top50 Macquarie Hotel in thriving Liverpool.
“The Belmore Hotel has proven itself to be a perennial Top35 gaming asset, and the completion of this transaction aligns with our original divestment strategy,” offers Monarch operations manager James Smithers.
“We congratulate Nelson Meers on the acquisition, and cannot think of a better custodian to take the asset forward.”
Belmore sustains a recent reshuffle of big-ticket gaming pubs, counting sale of the Allawah Hotel to Justin Hemmes for $34 million, the Raby Tavern selling to Peter De Angelis for $35 million, and St George Tavern going to Wiggins for $47 million – all in the past two months.
A well-regarded philanthropist, former Sydney Lord Mayor Nelson Meers AO heads a collection of high-value hotel assets around Sydney, including Rockdale’s Grand Hotel, Campsie’s Oasis on Beamish, and the Hurstville Ritz.
“The marketplace for this hospitality and leisure-indexed asset class is, on a national basis, delivering upon any fair measure wholly rewarding results to all stakeholders,” poses Jolliffe, who notes the market buoyancy seen in the average of one hotel sold per week this year by HTL.
